Documents for Comment
Please be aware that any comments that you submit to the NRC will be considered a public record and entered into the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). For information about how the NRC handles your comments, see our Privacy Policy.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) affords the public opportunities to comment on proposed rules and policies, licensing actions, and draft technical documents. Toward that end, the NRC announces public comment opportunities in the Federal Register, here on the Documents for Comment page, and sometimes through press releases.
The following types of documents are available for comment:
Rulemaking-Related Documents
The NRC began managing rulemaking-related actions on the Government-wide Regulations.gov Web site in January 2008. The public can submit comments on NRC rulemaking actions through that site, as follows:
- Search for NRC Rules Available for Comment:
- From the Regulations.gov home page, select Proposed Rule from the drop down menu under “Select Document Type,” check the “Open for Comment/Submission” box, and select Search.
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To narrow the search results by agency, click “Find Agency” and select NRC from the drop down menu.
- Search for a Specific Rule or Action:
- If you know the Docket ID for the rule or action, enter it into the “Enter Keyword or ID” box and select Search.
- If you don’t know the Docket ID, enter a title or keyword in the “Enter Keyword or ID” box and select Search. Then narrow the search results by entering NRC in the “Find Agency” box.
Depending on how much you know about the rule, try the following search techniques:See also Rulemaking Dockets or Petition for Rulemaking Dockets.
- Submit a Comment:
On the Search Results page (after performing a search), select the “Open Docket Folder” link in the “Actions” column for the docket of interest. Submit a comment by selecting the “Comment Due” icon in the Title column.
- Get Email Updates:
The Regulations.gov Web site allows users to receive notifications when documents are added to a docket. You must register for notifications for every docket you’re interested in. To do so, perform a search for the desired action (as described above). On the search results page, open the docket folder of the action of interest. Once inside the docket, select the “E-mail Alerts” link near the top of the page. Fill in the registration form, and select Subscribe to complete the registration process.
- Related Dockets on Regulations.gov:
Sometimes multiple NRC dockets may be related to each other. To determine if a relationship exists between multiple dockets, once inside any NRC docket on Regulations.gov, expand the docket details by selecting "Show Details" located below the docket title.
- Additional Suggestions:
Select the “FAQs” tab at the top of the Regulations.gov home page to display a list of helpful topics.
Licensing-Related Documents
- Draft Standard Review Plans and Associated Review Standards - Guidance for NRC staff to use in reviewing proposed licensing actions
- Hearing Opportunities and License Applications - Notices of proposed amendments to a facility operation licensed by the NRC. See also the following pages for information on recent license applications:
- Material License Applications
- Status of License Renewal Applications and Industry Activities
- Status of Power Uprate Applications
- Licensing-Related Documents:
Other Documents
- Draft Generic Communications - Transmittals to one or more classes of licensees
- Draft Regulatory Guides - Guidance to licensees and applicants on implementing specific parts of the NRC's regulations, techniques used by the NRC staff in evaluating specific problems or postulated accidents, and data needed by the staff in its review of applications for permits or licenses
- Information Collections (OMB) - Voluntary or mandatory requests for reports or recordkeeping requirements imposed on the public by NRC
- Interim Staff Guidance
- NRC Enforcement Policy (Proposed Revisions)
- NUREG-Series Publications (Draft)
- Tribal Protocol Manual
